Thoughts and observations about Modesto and Stanislaus County

Don’t Forget to Vote !

By Emerson Drake

It’s time for recommendations for our local elections. If you’ve read the articles here on the EyeOnModesto

and listened to the radio show ‘What’s on America’s Mind‘, you’re well aware of our stances. The issues facing some offices make our choice extremely clear (MID water sales and Board Governance Policy). In others, the candidates past actions makes our choice easy (Developer/Profiteers).

From participating at MID meetings and city committee and council meetings, candidate forums and following the money, we’ve learned the true beliefs of the candidates not the ones they tell the public in order to get elected. There is even one candidate for Hart-Ransom School District who is in favor of forced public urination for 13 year old girls in mixed company (you can’t make this stuff up. Candidate (Athens Abell) wrote it on her facebook).

MID District 4 is the toughest call. We have three candidates who could perform well but unfortunately one must be chosen. The polls are suggesting the candidate most likely to defeat Jim Mortensen (arguably the worst candidate for the people/ratepayers), is Jake Wenger. For a complete breakdown on the election candidates check out recent “What’s on America’s Mind” broadcasts.

I noticed you didn’t provide detailed commentary on the subject. Ms. Abell has since deleted her facebook comments in shame of what she wrote. Her support of the male teacher who broke the schools rules and insisted on the 13 year old girl urinate in front of her classmates is, in my opinion, indefensible. To suggest we molly coddle our children and that urinating in a public classroom in front of the opposite sex somehow strengthens them is a position I would not like a true educator to take and have spoken the same.

You are welcome to write a detailed commentary of what Ms. Abell said but I’ve noticed you usually have your husband doing the commenting (as he did the first time on facebook while he was impersonating you) so I’m not really sure who I’m speaking with. If you have listened to the radio shows I believe in one I read Ms. Abell’s comments word for word.

Ms. Abell’s attempts to cover-up her comments speaks volumes and engaging a surrogate in an attempt to obfuscate the discussion points speaks just as loudly.

At the risk of being your next target, from what I understand from this situation, I have to support Athens Abell 100 percent and would further go on to say that given the circumstances as I understand them to be, that I would have done the very same thing or similar as opposed to risking human life.

Good to hear from you Robert. This is what I gleaned from the child’s situation. The school was on a voluntary lock-down when the 13 year old girl felt the need to relieve herself. The school’s well thought out safety policy clearly states the teacher is supposed to call the office to forward the request. The office, being more informed of the on going events would then make the decisions necessary. The protocol included that when the office determined that it was safe, an escort would be sent to take the student to the rest room, wait for them, and escort them back to their classroom. When the male teacher violated the policy by refusing to call the office, he told the girl if she was going to find relief she was could use the garbage can in the classroom. When she became desperate the teacher asked her male and female classmates to avert their eyes. A female friend of hers stood up to provide a modesty shield otherwise she was clearly visible.

When the male teacher refused to follow the established protocol I wondered if a ‘fetish’ was involved in the decision making. It should be noted the children were never in danger at any time.

Now Ms. Abells’ comments were written and publicized by her on facebook. Ms. Abell apparently didn’t feel the strength of her convictions you do since during her candidacy for the school board (being a candidate being key) she deleted her comments from her facebook page and even went to the extreme lengths of closing a facebook page where she was just a co-administrator which had copied and pasted her comments.

I’m reminded of four years ago when Al Nava ‘over-shared’ on facebook but stood by his opinions. Also this isn’t Ms. Abells’ first attempt at censorship of something I’ve written regarding candidates (Bill Zoslocki’s well documented involvement as a developer/profiteer in Village I) for political office. It didn’t work then and won’t work now.